


at the hip

by hexicity



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Jace And Simon Are Dumb, M/M, Pining, group dynamic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 22:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11953653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexicity/pseuds/hexicity
Summary: “What are we talking about?” Isabelle asks, tearing her eyes away from Simon and Jace. “Get what, exactly?”“The money we bet on who can make Simon and Jace realize their love for each other and start dating officially.” Magnus declares, and Isabelle stares for a few seconds before slowly reaching for her purse and producing her wallet.“I’ll play.”





	at the hip

Alec Lightwood doesn’t gamble. 

Even that one time when he and Magnus went to Vegas for the weekend. Even after a night of drunken decision making that would put Rachel Greene and Ross Geller to shame, Alec had restrained himself from putting down money at the many casinos they visited. Honestly, he doesn’t understand the appeal. Why risk your money on something that you aren’t certain about?

That line of thinking is the reason Alec doesn’t consider the Jace and Simon betting pool to be actual gambling. He’s certain he’ll win the money. 

“Fried rice!” Jace exclaims happily. He has the menu in his hands and Simon is peering over the side, eyes narrowed. Simon points at something and Jace’s joy subsides. “Shit. It has onions.”

“You don’t like onions anymore?” Isabelle asks, looking up from her own menu to give Jace a perplexed look. As Isabelle is much busier than any of them, and doesn’t live with Simon and Jace like the rest of the table does, she isn’t fully aware of the many quirks that make Simon and Jace themselves. 

“I think they are heavenly, Iz, but some ridiculously picky eaters have an aversion to foods that are good.” Jace explains, already searching through the rest of the menu while Simon stabs him lightly with a chopstick. 

“They’re not good, you freak, they’re bitter.” He insists, his voice exasperated like they’ve had this argument a million times. And they probably have. 

“Like you.” Jace says, batting the chopstick away. 

“Why do you have to order what Simon likes?” Isabelle presses. Jace and Simon both look at her, unbothered by the incredulous tone in her voice. 

“Because we share.” Jace clarifies. 

Isabelle looks across the table to Alec, her eyes wide. He snickers and mouths an, “I told you” at her. To those who don’t share a house with Simon and Jace, their bond might seem only slightly abnormal. Strangers who see them finishing each other’s sentences or absentmindedly fixing each other’s hair might merely think that they’re just extremely close friends. 

But Alec, Magnus, and Clary know the truth. They’re basically dating. 

It’s tragic that the boys can’t see how their constant togetherness is so close to a relationship. Alec knows for a fact that Jace has feelings for Simon, that he has for nearly a year. He’s pretty sure that Simon feels the same way. 

But both of them are stubborn idiots, and they both think that the other only regards them as a best friend. 

And by now, the betting pool that has accumulated between Alec, Magnus, and Clary has enough cash that Alec could buy groceries for weeks. The rules are simple: whoever gets the boys to realize their mutual feelings and finally make it official wins the money. To avoid making their game obvious, the group is limited to one try per day between all three of them. First come, first serve. 

It’s been four months without a winner, but none of them are ready to surrender. 

“What if Isabelle is the one to make them realize?” Magnus whispers to Alec, a small smirk playing at his lips because the idea of them all losing ridiculous amounts of money is apparently funny to him. 

“I should get it because she’s my sister.” Alec counters, hissing when a sudden sharp pain in his hand gets his attention. The culprit is Clary, who has a fork pressed against Alec’s knuckles and is glaring from across the table. 

“She’s my girlfriend, I should get it.” She argues. 

“What are we talking about?” Isabelle asks, tearing her eyes away from Simon and Jace. “Get what, exactly?”

“The money we have bet on who can make Simon and Jace realize their love for each other and start dating officially.” Magnus declares, and Isabelle stares for a few seconds before slowly reaching for her purse and producing her wallet. 

“I’ll play.”

/

The most difficult thing about the game is knowing when to make a move. That’s what Clary struggles with out of everything, because there’s a fine line that cannot be crossed. She can’t just waltz up to Simon and Jace while they’re eating breakfast and ask them why they aren’t dating. 

To truly get results, she figures she needs to get one of them alone. Alone, and in a state of total amazement over the other. 

Jace’s basketball game seems like a good time to take a shot. 

“Make it even.” Simon insists, his eyes closed and his head tilted back as Magnus expertly applies blue and silver streaks across both cheekbones. Magnus scoffs at this instruction, indignant. 

“If I can contour my face every morning, I’m pretty sure I can give you a blue line.” He mutters. He pulls his hand away and leans back on the bleacher seat below Simon to admire his work. “There. Alec, your turn.”

“I can support my brother without putting paint on my face.” Alec declines.

“If you loved him, you’d do it.” Simon counters, and Clary nearly chokes on her nacho chip. She can’t believe that he’ll just say things like that without realizing the implication, and the looks on Magnus and Alec’s face mirror her shock. Magnus smirks and opens his mouth, probably about to take his turn at the game. 

Clary yanks at Simon’s arm quickly, desperate to keep her plan intact. “Come to the concessions stand with me?”

Simon arches an eyebrow. “You bought large nachos like, two minutes ago.”

“And they’re making me thirsty,” Clary insists while she ignores Magnus’ glare and pulls at Simon’s arm, “come on. We won’t miss the tip off, I promise.”

He rises with her and they navigate their way down the crowded bleachers and through the gymnasium doors. Clary reviews her options in her head, wondering what the best way to go about this attempt is. She decides to stick with her time-honored strategy of bringing up Simon’s relationship status. 

“So Izzy really wants to go to this uh, art exhibit? And she got two extra tickets so we were thinking like a double date thing?”

“Taking Magnus and Izzy to a museum is just going to turn into a photoshoot.” Simon says with a laugh. “That’s good though, I mean you guys should go on more double dates--”

“Well I was actually thinking that maybe you could come!” Clary suggests with an encouraging smile. “That’d be fun, right?”

“Me and my invisible date?” 

“Come on, I’m sure you can think of someone.” Clary nudges him as they inch forward in line. She’s close. Even Simon bringing up Jace as a joke would work, really, because then she’d know the idea is in his head. She knows it’s there, somewhere, buried deep under denial and movie quotes. 

“Actually I have a date.” Simon mumbles, looking away from her and towards the stand. “This weekend. But it’s not the kind of situation where I’d want to overwhelm them with a double date right off the bat? I mean it’s new and everything but um, I really like them?”

“Oh.” Clary tries not to let her surprise and total disappointment show on her face. She plasters on an enthusiastic smile. “That’s great! When did this happen? What’s their name?”

“Sam.” He says, and a small smile takes over his lips. He finally looks back at her and his eyes are full of hope. “I met them in my music theory class. They’re really funny and talented and just--I don’t know. We don’t even know each other that well but I think it’s good to like, keep trying. Right?”

Clary sighs. Simon’s had his heart smashed a ridiculous amount of times in the past few years, starting with her in freshman year and ending with Raphael, otherwise known as the biggest fight she’d ever seen in a relationship. And if whoever Sam is makes Simon happy, Clary should let it happen.

“Right.” She smiles. “Show me a picture.”

Simon spends the rest of the time in line babbling about Sam and their custom drumkit from the 80s. They make it back into their seats just as the game is beginning, and she gives Magnus and Alec a subtle head shake at their inquiring glances. 

On the court, Jace intercepts a throw from the other team and shoots down the court. Simon jumps to his feet along with their half of the stadium, cheering at a volume that’ll leave his throat sore for hours. 

/

“Jesus Christ, Jace, stop moving.” Magnus says in exasperation. He has his hands firmly pinning Jace’s arms to the sofa while his roommate writhes in pain, his earbuds blasting Nicki Minaj because that’s apparently the only thing keeping him from screaming. 

In the kitchen, Alec is on the phone with the insurance rep while he paces in front of the fridge, where Clary is gathering ice. Magnus sighs as Jace weakly tries to worm out of his grasp. 

Not the Friday night he was planning. 

“Magnus,” Jace groans, “kill me.”

“No.” 

“Magnus, please, there’s a gun in Simon’s room that he uses to hit the light switch--”

“That’s a nerf gun.”

“I’m dying, Mags, I’m really--”

“You have appendicitis, Jace.” Magnus cuts off any further delirious mumbling. “You’ll be fine. We’re going to the ER...as soon as Alec can figure out where our insurance covers. Okay? Just relax. Listen to Nicki.”

“Where’s Simon?” He groans. 

“He’s on his date, remember?” Magnus sighs, mourning the loss of the one person who could tolerate handling Jace at this moment. “I’ll call him soon. Once we’re on our way.”

Jace mumbles something inaudible. He keeps his eyes on Magnus, like he’s willing him to understand what he wants without having to repeat the request. Like a five year old. 

“Jace, stop looking at me like that. Use your words, what do you want?”

“Simon’s hoodie.” He finally says, just loud enough for Magnus to hear. He now refuses to make eye contact and his cheeks are red, redder than they were before from mere pain and exhaustion. Magnus huffs an exaggerated sigh and nods. 

“I’ll get it.” He says, gently knocking his fist against Jace’s knee. Alec emerges from the kitchen right as Magnus passes to ascend the stairs, relaying the plan to take Jace to the urgent care center that’s right by campus. He and Clary begin the process of getting Jace off the couch and into the car while Magnus hurries up the stairs. 

He takes the first left into Simon’s room, which is messy after his preparing-for-a-date routine. There are several shirts discarded to the floor, obviously deemed not good enough. Among the mess he spots the familiar red fabric of Simon’s Spiderman hoodie on the bed, next to Jace’s pillow. 

The presence of Jace’s pillow means that the boys must’ve taken a nap together earlier, like they often do after a tiring day of classes and work. 

“Idiots.” Magnus murmurs, already pulling his phone out to call Jace’s not boyfriend. 

“I’m on a date, Magnus.” Simon answers in a strained voice. Magnus is startled by how far Simon sounds from a good mood and, admittedly, is a little hesitant to drag him even further. 

“This is a little more important than dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.” Magnus says as he heads back downstairs. “Jace’s stomachache? We think it’s appendicitis.”

“Oh my God, what?” There’s the sound of a chair screeching across the floor and lots of rustling. “Okay I’m coming, which hospital?”

“The one near campus that we went to during the flu epidemic of sophomore year.” Magnus reports. He grabs for his coat, shoving an arm through and switching his phone into the other hand while Simon presumably scrambles to dissolve his date. “Simon, listen, he’ll be in surgery for awhile. Finish your date.”

“Finish eating cheesecake while Jace’s appendix explodes?” Simon repeats hysterically. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you were excited for this!” Magnus argues. He locks the door behind him and hurries to the car, climbing into the passenger seat. Jace is in the back, his head on Clary’s lap while he takes deep breaths. Magnus throws him the hoodie and watches him immediately curl around it, his face pressing against the chest. 

“I’m coming.” Simon says simply before hanging up. 

“Okay.” Magnus draws out the word as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. “Someone is in a bad mood.”

“Yeah,” Alec releases the steering wheel with one hand to scrub at his eyes, “it’s me.”

Simon somehow arrives before they do. He’s standing in the waiting room with his arms crossed, his nice jacket hopelessly crinkled around the elbows because he’s shoved his sleeves up. He rushes forward when they enter, tilting his head to rest against Jace’s for the few seconds they have before he’s taken on a gurney and rolled away. 

They wait for nearly an hour before Jace is brought into his room, his hoodie still secured under his arm. When he finally wakes up, everyone else is asleep and the only light source in the room is the city lights out the window and Magnus’ phone screen.

“‘S my appendix gone?” Jace mumbles, drawing Magnus’ attention away from the Clickhole quiz he’d been taking. 

“Hopefully.” Magnus chirps. He gently adjusts Alec’s head to lean against the chair rather than his shoulder before reaching for the water on Jace’s table and handing it over. “Otherwise we just wasted a lot of money. Feel better?”

“Mhm.” Jace nods. He glances over at the other wall, where the city lights shine on Clary and Simon’s sleeping forms. “Did he leave his date? Or did I dream that?”

“He did.” Magnus says. “I told him not to. No offense.”

“Is it weird that I wanted him to?” Jace mumbles, tightening his grip around the hoodie. 

“Why did you?” Magnus whispers. He’s not going to pry an answer out of Jace while he’s just had his appendix pried out of him. But if he happens to confess, Magnus will gladly take credit. 

“I don’t know. I want him to be happy, obviously, he’s my best friend.” He sighs and looks at Magnus with guilt-ridden eyes. “But when I think about him dating it’s just--weird. Like I can’t actually picture someone else taking up that role.”

Someone else, Magnus thinks. Not just someone. Some else. 

“Jace have you ever thought that maybe--” 

“Mm.” Simon makes a soft stirring noise from his chair, his eyelids flickering open after a few prolonged seconds. He smiles when he sees Jace sitting upright, immediately lifting his head from Clary’s shoulder to scoot his chair closer. “Hey. You done being a diva?”

“No not yet.” Jace says and immediately throws a hand over his eyes with a fake groan. “My body is in _turmoil_ Simon, I need _attention_.”

“When don’t you?” Simon wonders. 

Magnus sits back in his chair, lowering his head back to rest against Alec’s. Not tonight. 

/

“Alllllllec!’ Simon brings his hand down across his guitar strings like a lead weight. Alec winces at the uncoordinated clanging noise, a far cry from Simon’s usual melodic chords. “Thank you, everyone, that was my song about my friend Alec. And it’s called, you guessed it, Alec.”

Alec glances around the living room. He’s not sure who Simon is referring to when he says “everyone” considering he’s the only audience member. Everyone else is mostly in the backyard, crowding around the fire for warmth. It isn’t a party without roasting marshmallows, according to Maia, but Alec and Simon are deprived from this privilege. They’re both under strict orders from Magnus to stay inside in the heat, away from the biting winds that could make them both relapse into the colds they’d just recovered from. 

Simon has been quiet all night, but the alcohol is definitely helping him loosen up. This time, though, he’s skipped drunken rambling about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and gone straight to drunken guitar playing. 

Something’s wrong. 

“A beautiful song. You should take a break, though, drink some water. Here, hand me the guitar.” He holds out a hand. Simon pouts. 

“Call him by his name.”

“Hand me Thor.” Alec amends. He takes the guitar carefully from Simon, placing it gently in its case and flipping the lid closed. He then intercepts the drink that Simon is reaching for and replaces it with a water. “Enough drinking. I’m serious.”

“I need it, I’m experiencing emotional turmoil.” Simon whines. Nevertheless, he sips his water with just enough coordination to keep it from spilling down his chin. Alec sighs, which turns into a cough, and Simon’s eyes widen. “Are you okay, Alec?”

“I’m good.” He confirms after a sip of his own water. “But while we’re on the subject of being okay...are you?”

“I know I’m screwed when Alec is asking about my feelings.” Simon mumbles ruefully. “Um. I broke up with Sam. Or maybe they broke up with me? It was mutual.”

“Oh.” Alec isn’t surprised at all. Simon’s never spoken with genuine enthusiasm about his current significant other, and the amount that he’s tried to force himself to sound happy only emphasizes how terribly it seems to be going. “I’m sorry. Are you sad about it?”

“I don’t know.” Simon admits. “They were really cool! And we’ll still be friends I hope. But there was no spark and the conversations were forced. I guess I’m not sad that it’s over but I’m sad that it’s--I don’t know. I’m still sad and--I don’t know.”

“You’re sad that you’re sad?” Alec guesses. Simon’s eyes widen in amazement, as if Alec just discovered the cure for cancer. 

“Yes! Holy shit, Alec, you’re so smart. Hand me Thor, I need to sing about you.”

“Uh-oh.” Jace bounds through the backdoor with the remnants of a laugh on his face. He steps onto the ottoman and walks over it to reach them, sitting beside Simon and reaching for his discarded drink. “You’ve started drunk singing already?”

“You weren’t out there for very long.” Alec observes. He was expecting this, though, because Jace is never apart from Simon at group functions for longer than two minutes. Or regular functions, really. Jace is never apart from Simon in general. 

“Thought I’d check in on my diseased roomies.” Jace says with a wide smile. Simon responds by letting his head drop onto Jace’s shoulder, which makes Jace’s teasing grin melt into a fonder, softer one. 

“Not diseased anymore.” Simon corrects, then coughs slightly into his sleeve. “Mostly.”

“Hey is Sam coming?” Jace asks Simon. He’s been doing this a lot lately, oddly enough. Magnus theorizes that Jace’s mentions of Sam are merely to keep his mind accustomed to the fact that Simon is now dating someone. Clary, similarly, thinks that hearing about Sam will help Jace begin the process of moving on, however futile it may be. 

Alec thinks that maybe Jace is always hoping to hear that they’ve broken up. And his wish is about to be granted. 

“We broke up.” Simon announces, sipping his water again. “I don’t feel like re-explaining. Alec can tell you.”

Jace looks over Simon’s head at Alec, his eyes both parts curious and hopeful. 

“They’re better off as friends.” Alec explains. “And there wasn’t much of a spark.”

“Ah.” Jace tries, and fails, to suppress a smile. He gives Simon a gentle pat on the shoulder as his friend slumps ever further into him. After drunken singing Simon comes drunken cuddling Simon, and clearly they’ve arrived at this destination. “It’s okay, man, plenty of fish in the sea.” 

Opportunity, Alec thinks, is here. As far as he knows, no one has made a shot today. And with Simon and Jace both buzzed to varying amounts and sitting right here, discussing relationships, Alec would have to be stupid not to try. So he keeps it simple. 

“You know why I knew Magnus would be right for me?” Alec says lightly, trying to keep any hint of suggestion out of his voice. “We were best friends first. I just had to look at him differently.”

Simon opens his eyes and shifts a little so he can see Alec over the folds of Jace’s sweater. There’s a moment where Alec swears, he _swears,_ Simon understands. There’s a flash in his eyes as if the realization just struck him like lightning. Alec’s heart stops and he waits, waits, waits--

“I’m gonna go throw up.” Simon announces, pushing away from Jace. “Not related to Magnus and you, super cute, but uh, I’m very hammered right now.”

Alec sighs. Simon gets up from the couch and staggers away, an uncoordinated mess of limbs as he makes his way to the bathroom. Alec looks at Jace, who’s watching Simon leave, and Alec thinks that maybe the same flash of realization is in his eyes. 

Maybe. 

/

“The holiday season.” Isabelle sighs dreamily as she tilts her head back and admires the glittering snowfall. “I love it. How could anyone be upset with a view like this?”

“Just ask Simon and Jace.” Clary murmurs. She shifts in her lawn chair, making the hot cocoa in the mesh cup holder slosh over the sides of the styrofoam cup. Ignoring this, Clary leans closer until her lips are just beside Isabelle’s ear, her warm breath sending shivers down Isabelle’s spine. “Magnus, Alec, and I all agreed to keep the romance dialed down. For Jace and Simon.”

Then, contradicting her statement, she presses a kiss to Isabelle’s cheek.

“So what was that, then?” Izzy laughs, shoving Clary gently. 

“Something to hold us over.” Clary answers dismissively, peeking over her shoulder to where the boys are all standing at the edge of the rooftop and pointing over each other at different constellations. “They didn’t even see.”

“They can’t possibly be upset tonight. Snow party is a tradition!” Isabelle says. This is the fourth year of them gathering on the rooftop of her building to admire the first few nights of winter’s snowfall. It’s usually an affair of laughing and stories and hot chocolate, but Simon and Jace both seem subdued. 

It’s not like they’re sulking or anything. Simon’s still telling jokes and Jace is still catching snowflakes on his tongue, the same as every year. They’re both just distracted, and they take turns staring at each other when the other isn’t looking. 

“It use to be funny.” Clary murmurs, looking helplessly at her best friends. “But now I think they’re both just miserable. I don’t even really care about the stupid money anymore, I just want them to be happy.”

“None of the attempts worked?” Isabelle asks, watching Clary mournfully shake her head. 

“Simon wants to be with someone who’ll make him happy.” Clary explains. “And Jace wants Simon to get that. But either they don’t realize that they’ll make _each other_ happy, or they’re both afraid that the other isn’t interested. Either way, they’re stuck.”

“Alright.” Isabelle jerks her head to the side and the familiar popping noise of her muscles loosening makes Clary wince. She stands up, straightens her jacket, and smiles down at Clary. “Watch me solve all your problems.”

“Iz, be careful with--”

“Clary, trust me. I know my brother, and I know Simon.” She plants a kiss on Clary’s forehead. “And, I’m a scientist. So I know that when several trials fail with one method, you move onto the next. Clearly being subtle isn’t working.”

She marches over to the boys. Magnus and Jace are holding snowflakes in their palms, admiring the structures and shapes before their body heat melts them into small puddles. Simon is watching Jace with just as much amazement, if not more. 

“Simon, Jace.” She gets their attention. “We need to talk, okay?”

“Is this an intervention for Jace’s hot chocolate addiction?” Simon asks seriously. “Because we’ve tried to get him help, Iz, he doesn’t listen.”

Jace shoves a hand against Simon’s cheek, a smirk on both their faces. If there was any doubt in Isabelle’s mind, it’s now erased by watching the way they interact. They’re just comfortable together. They fit. 

“I heard you and Sam broke up.” She tells Simon, and he immediately sombers. 

“Um, yeah.” He shrugs. “We just had trouble connecting, I guess? Like we weren’t relaxed or familiar.”

“Like you are with Jace?” Isabelle asks, and Jace’s lips part immediately while Simon merely nods, not registering the severity of what she’s just proposed.

“Yeah--” Simon looks up at everyone’s faces. Magnus and Alec are obviously stunned, though Magnus looks ecstatic. Clary is hurrying over to hear the rest of the conversation and Jace is just frozen, his eyes wide and a flush rising to his cheeks. “Oh.”

Isabelle takes Simon’s hand in her right hand, and Jace’s in her left. She squeezes their gloved fingers gently. “You idiots both like each other. Right?”

Jace and Simon’s eyes meet instantly, maybe the first time they’ve both looked at each other all night. They hesitate for a moment, and then, 

“Right.” 

Magnus throws his head back with an excited cheer, while Alec and Clary both smile widely. Isabelle draws their hands together until they’re holding onto each other, then backs away to watch with the rest of the audience. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jace asks with a soft smirk, his tone playfully accusing. Simon rolls his eyes. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Simon bites his lip. “I was kidding myself, the whole time. Dating other people. I knew it was you.”

“This would’ve been so much easier if you would’ve let _me_ know that you knew--” Jace begins, but he’s silenced when Simon surges forward to kiss him. 

Isabelle turns away, forcing the others to follow her back to the chairs. Magnus genuinely looks near tears, and Isabelle can see why. They’re both glowing now, faces lit up spectacularly with joy as the snowflakes spiral around them and get caught in their hair. 

“So,” Isabelle leans in to kiss Clary, stopping just before their lips meet, “cash or check?”

**Author's Note:**

> i love my boys :') if u guys wanna leave a prompt or talk, my tumblr is @simonlewhiss and my inbox is always open!!


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